Fuel system



Jan. 9, 1 45- I R.-C. RlKE ETAL 2 5 FUEL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 9, 1945 FUEL SYSTEM Richard C. Bike and Everett L. Baugh, Dayton, Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application August31, 1942, Serial No. 456,797

1 Claim.

In supplying the engines of motor vehicles with fuel it has been the usual practice to provide a variable stroke diaphragm pump operated by the engine camshaft, the suction stroke of the pump drawing fuel from the fuel reservoir located, in

most cases, at therear of the vehicle, and the discharge stroke delivering fuel to the carburetor.-

- The suction which has'been used to draw the fuel to the pump chamber has been the occasion of some vaporizing of the fuel, which interferes with the action of the pump. Various substitutes have been suggested whereby the fuel is forced under pressure from the tank to the carburetor instead of being drawn by suction. For the most part these substitutes involve considerable expense as for example wher electrically operated pumps are installed in or adjacent the tank.

It is an object of the present invention to retain the pump adjacent the engine to take advantage of economical mechanical operation by the engine camshaft and at the same time to avoid the use of suction in the conduit carrying fuel from the 7 is used with the system Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of one of the valves.

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fig 5.

Characters of reference on the several figures are used in explanation of the Structure and operation. Numeral II is used to designate .the engine of a motor vehicle. It is supplied with fuel by a carburetor l3, the tank supplying the fuel being at the rear of the vehicle where it is marked by numeral l5. In its broader aspects the invention makes use of a circulating system through which the fuel flows under substantially constant pressure, a' circulating pump l1 serving for this purpose. The circulating system includes a pipe l9 connected to the relatively high pressure pump outlet and a pipe 2| communicating with the relatively lower pressure pump inlet. It should be observed, however, that the circulating pump is maintaining a pressure throughout the system and that pipe 2| is not under pressure lessthan atmospheric. Apipe 23 from the pump takes such of the fuel as is needed to supply the carburetor. The pipes l9 and 2| communicate to complete the circulating system within tank l5 wherein provision is made to add to the supply in the system from the tank a quantity which shall be equivalent to the quantity delivered from the system to the carburetor.

To the top of the tank is secured a plate 25. Such a plate has been heretofore used to mount a rheostat for the fuel gage and the plate 25 is shown equipped with the rheostat 21. The float for controlling the rheostat is shown at 29. although it should be stated that this is no part of t e invention. Heretofore the equivalent of plate 25 has been used to carry the fuel suction pipe leading to a position near the bottom of the tank. In the present system pipe I!) is coupled at 3| to a pipe 33 passing through the supporting plate 25' and extended to a position near the bottom of the tank. A coupling 35 connects pipe 2| to a pipe 31 also extending through plate 25. A venturi 39 is coupled as an extension to the end of pipe 31 within the tank. It tapers to a narrow passage at 4| from which it opens into a wider end 43. The end 43 of the venturi and the end of pipe 33 are adjacent each other and are secured as at 45 and 41 to a cage 49. The cage has a cover 5| secured by fastening means 53. It is surrounded by a screen 55. Beneath the opening receiving the end of pipe 33 the cage is formed as a cylindrical guide for a reciprocating plunger 51. by a spring 59 and has an axial bore 6| leading from the top where it is in communication with pipe 33. It also has radial passages 63 by which the axial passage may communicate through a passage 65 in the cage to the space within screen 55. These radial passages open into an enlarged space 61 when the plunger is depressed against the resistance of spring 59. A part of the wall of chamber 61 is cut away so that it is open to chamber 69 containing a filter 1|. 7 Fuel entering 69 may pass through filter 1| and through a reduced channel 13 and then may enter the lower end 43 of the venturi.

It will now be understood that the,system may be full of fuel which is merely being forced around under pressure by the circulating pump. If, however, the engine suction has drawn fuel from the carburetor the pressure in the pipe 23 may be less than in the system |9--2| thus tending to withdraw some fuel and reduce to some extent the pressure given-the system by the pump. In that event an equivalent amount of fuel will The plunger is biased to the position shown enter the system from. the tank through screen 55, entering at the contracted region of the venturi 4| where the fluid speed is greatest and the pressure relatively low. The purpose of the plunger 51 is to aid in priming. When there is air in the system and the circulating pump starts to operate the air escapes the passages 63, 65. When the air is driven out, the incompressible liquid under pressure from the pump overcomes spring 59 and the fuel fiows into chamber 51.

The pump which it is proposed to use is preferably double acting. It has a housing 8| which is to be clamped to the engine housing 83 in the vicinity of the engine camshaft 85. A pin 91 pivots a lever 89 which is rocked clockwise by a A hairpin spring 93 engages an abutment 95 on the housing and the lever 89 to hold the latter against the cam. As lever 89 rotates it engages at 91 a lever 99 also rotatable on pivot pin 81. Upper and lower covers IIII and I93 are secured to the pump housing 8| by fastening means I95, clamping between themselves and the housing diaphragms I01 and I99. As

is usual in diaphragm pumps the central region of the diaphragms is reinforced by metal discs such as III. A tubular-stem II3 engages the discs III on the adjacent faces of the diaphragms and threaded members II pass through'the discs on the remote faces and-are screwed into threaded passages in stem II 3 whereby the diaphragms move in unison. A coil spring III. is seated on the fiat end oflever 99 and engages the inner disc III of the upper diaphragm. A

spring H9 is seated on a shoulder I2I of the housing. It, too, engages lever 99. Lever 99 has side flanges I23 with rounded faces I25 adapted to engage the inner disc III of the lower lilaphragm. A shock absorbing spring I2] is. positioned between the side flanges I23 of the lever and the inner disc I II of the lower diaphragm.

The inlet from the pipe 2I is identified on Fig.

-5 by numeral I29. After passing through a screen I 3| 'held in position by a spring I33 the fuel passes through a passage I35 and then into a drilled out passage I31 communicating by valves I39 and passages as shown to the chambers above the upper diaphragm and below /the lower diaphragm. These chambers HI and I43 are the pump chambers. On the side-of the pump opposite passage I3! is a passage I45 affording communication by way of passages I" and valves I49 with a pump outlet marked I 5| communicating with pipe. I9. Referring again to Fig. 8 it will be seen that pipe 23 communicates with space just within the screen I3I by means of 'acheck valve comprising a disc l53 biased by a spring I55 to its closed position shown. When the carburetor needs fuel any pressure differential will cause the check valve to open and such fuel will flow to the carburetor as may be needed, the venturi in the tank becoming at lifts both diaphragms through the resilient action of spring I IT. This upward movement discharges fuel from the upper pump chamber and draws fuel into the lower pump chamber. In the idle part of the cam movement spring I I9 acts through lever 99 and particularly its rounded surface I25 to reverse the movements of the diaphragms. Since the pump operates through resilient springs, thus being limited by the pressure against which'it can pump, it will maintain a more or less uniform discharge pressure through a wide range of speeds so long as its capacity is not exceeded. Since the pump operates through orifices I3 its discharge will likewise be nearly constant. If upon the upward movement of lever 99 the engine speed is relatively low the diaphragm movement may be considerable in order to maintain the discharge requirements. If, however, the engine speed is high the diaphragms may remain substantially flat and spring I I! may be considerably compressed. Under the latter condition the lever abutment I25 leaves disc III and when spring I I9 reverses the operation spring I21 cushions the re-engagement of part I25 with the disc. By the above construction it will be seen that the simple mechanical pump operation has been retained and that super atmospheric pressure in the system prevents vapor lock. The only movable parts except for the air bleed device in the tank are the parts of a comparatively simple form of double action diaphragm pump. Both strokes are resiliently made and thus variable. No bypass is needed. The increased frequency resulting from the double stroke is of special importance in a system of this kind for the reason that the suction stroke of one side occurs simultaneously with the pressure stroke of the other; thus, any reduction in pressure occurring due to the intake stroke on one side is overcome by the venturi operating under pressure resulting from the pressure stroke of the other side.

We claim:

A fuel system for an engine having a fuel feed device for supplying fuel to said engine, said system including a fuel reservoir, said system including a pump, mechanism to actuate the pump and a first conduit extending from the high pressure side of the pump to its low pressure side whereby liquid fuel under pressure from the pump may once operative to supply the system with whatever may have been withdrawn. The several valves may be alike and one is illustrated in Fig. 7. A cage I5I seats a spring. I59 which 06 biases a valve member I55 to closed position. It willbe seen from Fig.6 that the inlet and outlet valves are reversed in position, valve mem bers I of the inlet valve being adjacent each other and the valve members I55 of the outlet 7 valve being remote from each other.

lati 3' pump will be readily understood. As the cam 9| rocks lever 99 in a clockwise direction It is believed that the operation of the circufiow*through said first conduit, a second conduit connecting said first conduit to said feed device to supply the latter, means constituting an intermediate part of the first conduit and communicating with the fuel in said reservoir, said means being operable to supply the system with a quantity of fuel to offset the fuel delivered to said feed device, said means being a cage adjacent the bottom of said reservoir, said cage having an inlet side and an outlet side, the part of the conduit on the outlet side of the cage being a venturi open at its constricted region to the fuel in the reservoir, and a movable air' bleed plunger on the inlet side of the. cage, means forming an air vent controlled by said plunger, spring means to bias said plunger to choke the flow of liquid through the cage and to vent air from the conduit and through the cage. l

' R. C. BIKE.

EVERETT L. BAUGH. 

